today is dnb day
Out of context: Reply #36
- Started
- Last post
- 51 Responses
- rounce0
@Meeklo:
I've been listening to drum and bass (and appreciating) since I was 4 when my mum went back to work and my childminder's eldest son who was about 12 was getting into drum and bass and jungle. I quite vividly remember him copying the LTJ Bukem @ Fantasia mix for me to cassette tape then me asking my mum how to work the casstte player propperly so I could listen to it. I'm 18 now, I play 7 instruments, and play regularly in a string quartet. I also own several analog synthesisers and drum machines and although they don't get as much use as they did when I was at school with tons of free time I still get them out sometimes for a session. I do occasionally do short guest sets on radio shows that friends have done from time to time but it's never been something I've really wanted to persue as anything more than a hobby. As for what I listen to, I won't bother listing genres or artists that I _do_ listen to more than what I _don't_: Most grime, indiepop, native american chanting (I tried it but it didn't really do anything for me), a lot of newer more commercial d&b, dancehall/dubstep crossover; thats about all that comes to mind in terms of stuff I don't enjoy listening to....aaand back to the subject of "Drum and bass is dead". I've only once been to a drum and bass night and had a thoroughly good time and I've been to quite a few. This came up in a conversation I had while having a smoke at breakspoll, with a friend of mine who's been an engineer since the early days of Metalheadz and mastered a few tracks for them and still does the majority of his work on D&B tracks. Even He said the scene is becoming more and more boring and is being chewed up by people looking to make some money and come off with a bit of street cred, with minimal effort. Sure there are a _few_ people who're still putting out nice stuff but I don't know of many hardcore d&b lovers who can honestly say that the scene is spilling over with creativity. Even my beloved Breakbeat has suffered recently at the hands of people looking to make some money, but at least there's still tons of interesting stuff coming out; not to mention the community is friendly as anything due to half gurning their faces off and the other half k-hole'ing so there's lots of love going around. Though I can't comment on how it is over the pond, as far as blighty is concerned I stand by my original statement, if you're ever in London, or anywhere in England for that matter I'd be more than happy to show you how sorry the state of Drum and Bass is.
- Point taken. I lived in London for close to a year and as an American who has to search out and find drum n bass, you all have it all around you - which yes, might be the reason it seems commercialized, but frankly, it's still tiny on the electronic music scale and especially the US scale. As for the scene, it's always going to be a balance between true fans and temporary people, but I think it's something that has shown real strength over the years. Look at happy hardcore and garage - for the most part those...BANKattack
- You'd be surprised how many happy hardcore nights you see here.rounce